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M10
The M10 tank destroyer was an American tank destroyer of World War II. Overview After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed to equip the new battalions. By November 1941, the Army requested a vehicle with a gun in a fully rotating turret after other interim models were criticized for being too poorly designed. The prototype of the M10 was conceived in early 1942, being delivered in April of that year. After appropriate changes to the hull and turret were made, the modified version was selected for production in June 1942 as the 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10. It mounted a 3-inch (76.2 mm) Gun M7 in a rotating turret on a modified M4A2 Sherman tank chassis. An alternate model, the M10A1, which used the chassis of an M4A3 Sherman tank, was also produced. Production of the two models ran from September 1942 to December 1943 and October 1942 to November 1943, respectively. The M10 was numerically the most important U.S. tank destroyer of World War II. It combined thin but sloped armor with the M4 Sherman's reliable drivetrain and a reasonably potent anti-tank weapon mounted in an open-topped turret. Despite its obsolescence in the face of more powerful German tanks like the Panther and the introduction of more powerful and better-designed types as replacements, the M10 remained in service until the end of the war. During World War II, the primary user of the M10 tank destroyer was the United States, but many were Lend-Leased to the United Kingdom and Free French forces. Several dozen were also sent to the Soviet Union. Post-war, the M10 was given as military surplus to several countries, such as Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands, through the Mutual Defense Assistance Act or acquired through other means by countries like Israel and the Republic of China. The M10 is often referred to by the nickname "Wolverine", but the origin of this nickname is unknown. It is possibly a postwar invention. Unlike other vehicles such as the M4 Sherman, M5 Stuart, or M7 Priest, the M10 was never assigned a nickname or referred to with one when used by American soldiers. They simply called it a "TD" (a nickname for any tank destroyer in general) beyond its formal designation. In Flames of War The 3" GMC M10 Tank Destroyer was based on the medium tank M4A2 (diesel) and was armed with the 3” anti-tank gun. The turret only had a partial roof over its front third (on occasion in the field crews would add their own). The open-top was to allow better visibility and easier servicing of the weapon, but at an obvious cost to protection. The hull and turret on the M10 both took advantage of sloped armour. The turret of the M10 was five-sided, including the gun shield in front. Two triangular counterweights added to the rear of the turret to balance the heavy 3" gun at the front. This greatly eased turret traverse. The Tank Destroyer Force of WWII was organized into Groups, Brigades, and Battalions. Each battalion was composed of 36 Tank Destroyers. A total of 70 battalions were deployed overseas. Mid-War The most potent weapon the US Army has in Tunisia for dealing with enemy tanks is the M10 tank destroyer. It has one job: to stalk and destroy enemy tanks. The M10 first saw action in Tunisia with the one Battalion serving during the campaign. The M3 Tank Destroyers were quickly removed from service after Tunisia and all SP Tank Destroyer Battalions serving in Sicily had had their vehicles replaced by the M10. Late-War The M10 3” GMC (gun motor carriage) tank destroyer was developed to handle medium and heavy German tanks. It was the first destroyer to incorporate a turret, which housed the 3” anti-tank gun, the best in the US arsenal at the time. The M10 soldiered on from the North African campaign to the end of the war. During that time crews made some field modifications to improve some of the vehicle’s major weaknesses, such as the open fighting compartment and the thin frontal armour, with overhead protection and improvised armour using sandbags. The M10s typically served infantry divisions, offering their guns to blast German pillboxes when not otherwise engaged with enemy tanks. Unit Organization The M10 tank destroyers are organized into tank destroyer battalions composed of two or three combat platoons with two, three or four vehicles each, a command section of two M3 Stuart light tanks or M20 armoured cars and optional security sections with M20 scout cars and Jeeps. * Armies of Late-War. Forces From 1944-45 ''allow deploying either two M10 in a platoon for 180 points or full-strength four-vehicle platoons for 360 points, with the possibility to replace any or all M10s with M36 Jackson for +20 points per tank. The crews are rated Confident Veteran. * ''Fighting First ''retains the organization, with the exceptions of M3 Stuarts used in HQ (4 points) and the combat platoons can contain two, three or four vehicles, with the unit cost 8 points per one M10. The crews are rated Confident Trained and are Hit On 3+. A full-strength 3-platoon tank destroyer company with the command section costs 100 points ( 4 points + 3 platoons x (4 vehicles x 8 points)). The company can be supported with up to two Armored Recon Patrol sections with two M3A1 armored cars, one Jeep with a machinegun and a Jeep with 60mm mortar for 3 points per section. * ''Fortress Europe ''retains the organization with changed point cost: the M3 Stuart command section still costs 4 points, while the combat platoons can be deployed with either two M10s for 8 points or four vehicles for 16 points. Armoured Recon Patrols cost now 4 points per section. A full-strength tank destroyer company costs 60 points. * The ''D-Day: American ''merges the unit organization from the previous book with M20 Scout Cars used in the command section and up to three security sections, composed of two M20 Scout Cars and one Jeep with a 0.50 cal machinegun. The M20 Scout Car command section costs 2 points, while the security sections cost 3 points per section. Model kits Plastic * UBX49 Tank Destroyer Platoon (four plastic M10/M36 tank destroyers with four plastic crew sprues and one decal sheet) * UBX53 M10 3-Inch Tank Destroyer Platoon (Plastic) (four models with four plastic commander sprues, one Decal Sheet and one Unit card) * USAB06 Patton's Fighting First (Plastic) (two M10s included) * USAB10 US Combat Command * TANKS M10/M36 Jackson Tank Expansion (one M10/M36 model with unit cards and upgrade cards) Model assembly Metal and resin model kits Those models require only to glue the gun and the machinegun to the turret and the threads to the hull. They can be supplemented with crew figurines. Plastic model kits The hull: * Begin by attaching the upper hull section to the lower hull. * Next, attach the rounded hull front section to the front of the hull. * Attach the rear exhaust plate to the lower hull, making sure it is aligned neatly with the bottom of the hull. * Now attach the rear plate with tools in the space at the rear of the upper hull. Try to apply a thin line of glue evenly along the edge of the part, and it should slide neatly into place. * Next, attach the tracks to the lower hull. The tracks are keyed to correspond with a particular side of the hull: two pegs on the left and three on the right. This ensures correct orientation of the tracks. '''It is much easier to paint the tracks separately and attach them later.' The Turret: * After selecting the right parts, attach the gun breech assembly to the turret bottom. * Next, attach the turret top to the turret bottom. * Glue the gun mantlet in place on the front of the turret. The Counterweight Due to the size and weight of the M7 3in gun that armed the M10 GMC, a counterweight was needed at the rear of the turret. Two wedge-shaped counterweights were attached to the turret to provide balance. Later production runs of the M10 had a better-designed 'duck-bill' counterweight (so named because in profile it looked a bit like an upside-down duck's bill) which better balanced the gun, as well as increasing space in the fighting compartment. The 'duck-bill' counterweight began to be introduced as early as June 1943, but both shapes of counterweight would still have been common throughout the war, so you can really feel free to use whichever design you prefer. It would even be conceivable for units to have a mix of different counterweights. Either shape of the counterweight is valid for the British M10C, as both turret variants were up-gunned with the 17 pdr. * Once you have chosen which counterweight you want to use, glue it in place at the rear of the turret. * Glue the gun into the hole in the mantlet. * Glue the .50-cal AA MG into the mounting hole at the rear of the fighting compartment. There are two MG's on the sprue; the M10 uses the one without a post. * Finally, glue the turret plug into space under the turret. It plugs into the hole in the hull, allowing the turret to turn towards the target when your M10 shoots. Adding Crew You can add crew to the turret if you like – choose any two or three crew from the crew sprue. You may find it easier to paint the crew separately before gluing them in place. The sets contain American crew figurines by default, though British and Soviet crew figurines can also be used for the Lend-Lease variants. UBX49-29.jpg|The sprues sold until 2017. USAB08-51.jpg|The sprues sold since 2016. JacksonBuild.png|The assembly. Painting US Army All the US Army tanks and military vehicles deployed to Europe between 1944 and 1945, as well as to the Northern Africa between November 1942 and 1943, were overall painted Lusterless Olive Drab as their standard colour. It was a compromise between typical earth colours and foliage colours in temperate areas. It was inexpensive to produce, as it used a mix of just two pigments: ochre and black. Since March 1943, the orders were given to add camouflage patterns to armoured vehicles and some units did apply improvised camouflage on their vehicles, though no official pattern was specified, so the camouflage patterns varied from one vehicle to another. During the 1944-45 Winter in Western Europe, the vehicles were also winterized with whitewash. American armoured vehicles usually had white American stars painted on turret sides, hull sides and the glacis plate. The engine deck was adorned with a US star in a roundel as an air recognition mark. Suggested paints: * Battlefront Sherman Drab (US Army/Soviet Lend Lease) * Battlefront Firefly Green (Commonwealth Lend-Lease Shermans) * Humbrol H155 Olive Drab * Citadel Base Ceramite White (whitewash and turret inferior) * steel metalizer (for machineguns and exposed metal parts) * black (for treads) * any tone of yellow or brown (camouflage) Combat efficiency Mid-War The M10 is one of the few Allied vehicles, which have chances against the heaviest German and Soviet tanks in combat, including the Tiger, the Panther, and the KV-1. Due to its weak armour, it is suggested to take advantage of terrain obstacles and the gun's long range whenever possible. The Seek, Strike, Destroy Special Rule works the same as the German Stormtroopers rule, allowing the M10 crews to carry out two different movement orders rather that one order. The Trained 4+ Skill rating gives a 50% chance for succeeding in the tactics, which is nonetheless worth risking for those units. The No HE rule makes the M10 rather useless against enemy infantry, especially with its poor stats in assaults and the Top Armour value of 0.Thus it should avoid contact with enemy infantry. Two Command Cards from Fighting First set can be used to improve the unit stats: * Favourable Position, which makes the platoon pass Shoot and Scoot Movement Orders on 3+ instead of 4+; * One Objective, allowing the Unit Leader to re-roll one failed roll to Hit in each Shooting Step. Late-War Armies of Late-War. Forces From 1944-45 Even with the advent of upgunned M4 Sherman variants, the M10 remains a useful weapon against enemy tanks. In the 2017 Army Lists, it has Anti-Tank 13, making it a good weapon against enemy tanks. The lower point cost makes it a possible alternative for a Sherman tank company, on the condition the Allied Player has units to protect the M10s from enemy infantry. Older editions permitted swapping M10s for M18 and M36 tank destroyers. The M18 has traded armour protection for the speed, while the M36 combines M10's armour with more powerful 90mm gun and improved engine. Fortress Europe The US Tank Destroyer force from the Breakout lists brings plenty of big AT to the field with a solid scouting presence, but needs tempering with caution and a good sense of the on-table situation. The M10 can pop around a corner and blow up basically any armoured opponent. Panthers and Tigers cannot sail around just making sure their front armour faces the enemy, they need to really take advantage of cover and advance cautiously. As is a big temptation with self-propelled anti-tank forces they are listed as Tank units, but if you treat them like a Medium Tank, or sometimes even a light tank, you will very quickly find them exposed, then on fire. Treat them like the massive threat they are, but remember they are vulnerable. Abuse their mobility and decent AT, take advantage of reliable shots they can make and lean a bit on their Cautious rating to ignore half the return shots taken at them. After rolling with Aggressive Sherman M4A1’s the defensive stats on the Cautious M10 Tank Destroyer look fantastic, with Front Armour value of 5 it feels almost as tough, with the same chance to Remount and being much cheaper than a standard Veteran M4 Sherman. With the fantastic 3-inch (76.2mm / 52 calibre) cannon it can threaten all armour in FoW other than the Elephant. Their Cross rating of 3+ is the same as decent Medium armour, so they can push through terrain with reasonable chance of success, so use this to get side shots when you need them, especially against Panthers or Elephants. The Desert Veterans Command Card from D-Day:American ''is an excellent way for improving the M10 crew's stats - they gain Veteran 3+ skill rating and pass Assault tests on 4+ roll just one +1 point per single platoon. Image gallery USAB08-44.png|The ''Fighting First unit card. USAB10-19.jpg|The Fortress Europe Unit card. Card1.png M10 turrets.JPG M10-M36.JPG TD company (4).JPG TD_01 (1).JPG TD_01 (4).JPG UBX49.jpg|The UBX49 box front. UBX49-02.jpg|The UBX49 box's rear. UBX53.jpg|The UBX53 box front. UBX53-02.jpg|The UBX53 box's rear. UBX72.jpg|The UBX72's box front. UBX72-02.jpg|The UBX72 box's rear. Tank-M10.png|TANKS unit card for M10. Category:Tank Teams Category:Tanks Category:Armoured Tanks Category:Allied Category:Mid-war Category:Late-war Category:American Category:Formations Category:Support Category:Under Construction Category:Lend-Lease